At its October 22 meeting, the Senate took care of two appointments—one to the Executive Board, the other to the Judicial Board—as well as the committee reports.
The Senate started with a brief discussion of whether or not to close its meeting for the evening to allow for a more candid discussion on those students that were up for appointments.
After deciding that the meeting would be kept open in order to keep up the Senate’s goal of transparency, the Senate had a brief update from the Grand Marshal Week Committee Chair Courtney Sawicki ’10. Sawicki announced that the committee has come up with a theme for GM Week 2009, “Kickin’ It Old School,” which will focus on traditions from the Institute’s past.
First up on the Senate’s agenda for appointments was Virginia Hickox ’12, who was the candidate President of the Union Rob Odell ’09 had selected to fill the slot for the E-Board’s freshman representative.
Odell said that of the four applications that he received, Hickox was nominated for the “unique way she approaches problems” and her ability to see a project through to the end.
After a couple of questions from the Senate about why Hickox wanted to join the E-Board and what possible conflicts existed between commitments on her part, the Senate brought the confirmation up for a vote.
Hickox was confirmed as the E-Board representative in a 19-0-0 vote by the Senate.
Following Hickox’s appointment, Jonathan Rosenberg ’11 was put up for confirmation as the new Judicial Board Chair. The current Chair of the J-Board, Stanley Johnson ’09, described Rosenberg as a “very dedicated member” of the Board and said that he will work with Rosenberg and will give him the necessary mentorship trequired to take over the position in January.
After some discussion, the Senate brought the motion to confirm Rosenberg as the J-Board chair to a vote, which failed in a 13-1-5 vote in the first attempt.
Following the failed vote, discussion continued on the issue of appointing a J-Board chair. According to the Senate’s bylaws, if Rosenberg failed to be confirmed at the Senate’s meeting, he would be ineligible to be considered for the position when the search process restarted; this concerned senators who believed that he may be the best qualified candidate.
However, some members of the Senate questioned Rosenberg’s ability to act as the chair, as his leadership experience is limited, while many of those abstaining stated that they objected to the process that only put one person before the Senate for approval rather than resulting in a contested race.
The Senate brought the motion up for reconsideration, and continued its lengthy discussion. Senators finally voted on the reconsidered motion, which passed in a 14-2-3 vote.
After Rosenberg’s confirmation, the Senate quickly ran through some of its committee reports.
Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee Bianca Zongrone ’10 reported that she was meeting with the Honor Code Committee to further discuss moving forward with an honor code, as well as discussing the judicial process for those caught cheating at the Institute.
The Community Relations Committee will be holding a “Voice Your Concerns” table outside of Russell Sage Dining Hall on Thursday, where students can stop by and have their concerns heard.
The committee reported that shuttle buses will also be running every hour, on the hour, from 5-9 pm to the Troy Night Out event this weekend.
Finally, Senate Vice Chair Michael Zwack ’11 reported how the Registrar is coming along with planning for upcoming Spring 2009 registration. Three courses were approved in the 4-6 pm time slot and this semester will see 200 more undergraduate students are registering, including 50 incoming freshmen and 50 transfer students.
